Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008    Text size: 

It's official; the Sony-championed Blu-ray format has won the war as the market choice for hi-definition content delivery.

Adult content producers have struggled over hi-def deployment issues plagued by speculation over which of the rival next-generation DVD replacement formats would become the dominant player in the marketplace.

While Blu-ray has its advantages, questions over licensing and duplication have helped HD DVD become popular within adult circles.

According to a current XBIZ poll, 47 percent of hi-def releases are in the HD DVD format, while Blu-ray distribution accounts for 39 percent. 14 percent are available in both formats.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," Atsutoshi Nishida, president and CEO of Toshiba Corporation, said. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."

According to a company statement, Toshiba will continue to provide full product support and service for its HD DVD products while working to lead innovation in a wide range of technologies, including high-capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next-generation CPUs and other technologies.

HD DVD player and recorder shipments to retail outlets are scheduled to end in March, with volume production of HD DVD disk drives dwindling within the same timeframe – although limited production of PC drives may continue to meet customer requirements.

Toshiba's decision to drop HD DVD does not impact its standard DVD offerings, with the company continuing to market conventional DVD players and recorders.